Ambulance Service Added to Fire and Rescue Stations in Augusta

Augusta County is adding 24/7 ambulance service, station by station, all over the county.

[Dakota]

Bureau Chief.

17 years with NBC29 should give a guy from AC some pull over in C-ville.

Help the family of Dashad Smith , Ken ...Prod somebody in C-ville to keep the story moving , 29 is dropping the ball over the hill.

[sez you]

there goes the free ride.

[Dakota]

sez you wrote:

there goes the free ride.

Never has been a free ride. Free ride on the backs of volunteers backs, maybe. But a public service must be paid for . Thats why I don't complain about my property taxes much.

[I vote for responsibility]

Doesn't NBC29 fact check anything? There has been no "addition" of services. The only thing added is a huge burden to the taxpayers.

Do you think the public is so detatched that we won't recall all of the press coverage outlining arrangements between the County and Waynesboro First Aid and Staunton Rescue to cover EMS calls at this station and the one in Fishersville? These stories aren't that old!

The County has shifted from privatization and a financial risk of zero to full responsibility. Seasoned Paramedics have been replaced (for the most part) with young inexperienced rookie providers. At some point these providers will become as comfortable as those they replaced, but it will take years.

The County used to at least be sneaky about their desire to remove volunteers from their system. "Station by station, all of the County"..at least the real agenda is now on the table.

If you're for big government and high taxes, then ignore this article. If you're not, then compare budget histories in Augusta County and sound the alarm. Compare Fire/Rescue to law enforcement and schools over the last five years.

Stand up and be counted Augusta County! Otherwise this out of control train is going to jump the tracks.

NBC 29, please don't forget that job#1 for Augusta County Fire & Rescue is to expand their scope and control, no matter what the cost. The days of being able to trust the information they feed you without verifying it as factual are long since gone.

[Local view 9]

Just wait until the grant runs out. Do you fire them or raise taxes?

Look at what is happening in Albemarle County, same thing.

[exfirefighter]

What gets me is just because they are paid,they have the SAME skills as volunteers and take the same traning. Augusta county fire/rescue has always thought they're better than anyone else. They just want to run over everybody. It's pathetic.How many is going to be placed at each station? 2? Without volunteers they're up crap creek without paddles and a boat. Stop abusing volunteers,these people put a lot of time in to help their communities. They're own time and money.

[LOL]

Volunteer EMS has been on life support for years. It's time to pronounce it dead.
ALL of the large rescue squads; Cville, Waynesboro, Staunton, Harrisonburg, are primarily paid departments with volunteers using it as a hobby.
The unfortunate thing is these rescue squads were too narcissistic to change with times, so now they are forced to give away EMS to fire departments (terrible!)

[LOL]

Rush Maddow wrote:

<quoted text>
Just a reminder that you are totally clueless.

uh huh...who's hobby is it again that is being replaced by professionals?

[OldPM]

For the cost of two paid career staff in the station annually the county could instead promote the value of the volunteer to the community, and by doing so raise the public image of all volunteers. This would increase both support and volunteerism and completely negate the need for more taxpayer funded positions, and for a fraction of the costs.

[realist]

This article is so inaccurate. The services were already at Riverheads Fire Department. There was a Medic level ambulance staffed there 24/7 with Staunton Augusta Rescue Squad. This isnt a new idea. The only difference is now the ambulance is staffed by Augusta County providers that think they might put out a fire with an ambulance.